Blog Feed

Intro

For my essay I wrote about the identity issues that a lot of Native Americans face. Since Europeans first came to this continent, they have been oppressing Native People. Through hundreds of years of oppression, cultures were hard fought to keep. My essay talks about how Native People claim their identity in a society designed to oppress them. For this essay I wanted to look more into Native American People. I recently re-watched a documentary called Reel Injun. It's about the portrayal of native people in popular movies and film.The movie often connected back to how these movies painted these stereotypes really hurt the communities that today, live in large parts, poverty. My essay is largely inspired by this movie because it goes in depth about stereotypes Native Americans experience.

Essay

In October of 2014, a protest was held in Minnesota against the Washington Redskins for their name. The Native American people in attendance shouted “not your mascots!” during a sunday football game in Minnesota. The message of the football team known as the, ‘Redskins’ is considered a hateful and insulting name to native americans. To many people, it perpetuates a negative stereotype surrounding Native Americans. For hundreds of years they have been victims of hate speech and harmful stereotypes; any of which, native youth are fighting to shed to this day. In an article she wrote for The Guardian, Ruth Hopkins talks about the harmful stereotypes that white people (Pretendians) formulate that hurt and offend Native People. “By supporting generic, false stereotypes that encourage a belief that Natives are monolithic, all Pretendians commit cultural genocide and contribute to the erasure of legitimate, unique, ancient indigenous cultures while spreading misinformation about us.” Native People have faced this erasure and now, they’re finding ways to reclaim their identity.

For years, native americans have been forced to adhere to western standards of living. This by and large, has had a negative effect on a native communities. Jekeva Phillips wrote, “For Native American people, identity in many respects is a foreign word. Faced with crippling poverty, violent  abuse, and severe alcoholism, Native Americans are kept in a position of dire straits with the American government, and a position of pity with the American public.” Native American people in many ways have been forced into a kind of box when it comes to identity. Forced to be the stoic, brave, warrior or poor, drunk, and unemployed. This stereotype has made Native People feel trapped without many ways to address their identities. In some forms, it makes people turn to ways that may not be helpful to the native communities.

Many Native American tribes require proof of native blood to a certain fraction. To many Native People, they look more white than they do native. In an editorial by cultural survival by an unidentified author the person says, “Identity is an extremely complex issue. Certification of blood quantum is usually required in order to be legally identified as Native American, and some tribes require a certain blood quantum for membership. Informal constraints within the tribe also affect identity as some tribal members with full-blood quantum consider tribal members with mixed ancestry not to be truly "Native American."” This also creates a loss of identity for Native People, not solving the problem of identity within the community. However, some people within this community, have provided an answer.

Hopkins wrote an article for The Guardian, talking about what blood quantum represented to her and many other Native People. “Natives today agree that blood quantum is not the sole determinate of Native identity: kinship is key, because no true Native is an island. We have grandparents and cousins, blood roots and homelands.” Where she finds her identity in family, others find it in culture. “Today, local communities or reservations devote resources to perpetuating oral traditions, their Native language, and activities they regard as traditional.” These ways to experience their identities has helped many Native People with finding themselves.

Ultimately, the way that Native American people claim their identity is up to the individual. For some people, it's about being with your family, experiencing traditions with family. Others find it in their culture, in being apart of their respective tribes. With all the harmful stereotypes that Native People face today, it is important for them to have the ability to point to something tangible for identity. Identity for Native People will continue to evolve. However, it can always connect back to family and culture, whatever tribe you are apart of, identity can be found within the family and culture.

Introduction:

This essay, to me, is a survey of what it means to have or lack faith in the modern world. I myself am an atheist, but I can see the purpose of religion both to individuals and society. The landscape of belief has changed much in the past two centuries, and I have attempted here to chronicle how different thinkers and artists have viewed this seismic sea-change in our consciousness. Whatever your opinion is on this subject, I would advise entering this essay with an open mind towards the idea of the decline of belief (at least in the West) and the philosophical quandaries which arise from this.

It seems that depression and the supposed absence of a deity or higher power are our current zeitgeist, the spirit of our age. A Marxist would chalk this up to the alienation caused by the capitalist system which dehumanizes the human person and relates everything to money. Meanwhile, a traditionalist conservative would say that the liberal reforms of modern times have destroyed humanity’s relationship with God by making “Man the measure of all things”. Whatever portion of the political spectrum you fall on, humankind seems to have collectively agreed that whatever used to reign from above has abandoned us en masse in the light of modernity and postmodernity. Some have reacted to this by challenging the accepted orthodoxy of the past, while other have clung ever more tightly to their constantly dying faiths.

“‘Whither is God?....I will tell you. We have killed him.”, asserted Friedrich Nietzsche through the mouth of a madman in a parable in his 1882 work, The Gay Science. At first, this would sound as if Nietzsche, a rather nihilistic, committed atheist, is celebrating the collapse of the old system of deities and spirits and hailing the new humanist outlook of our species. However, it soon becomes clear that, despite its author’s beliefs, this is not a cause for celebration: “‘How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers….Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?’” For the great bulk of human history, cultures and peoples have had deities and spirits and legends to comfort them in their worst and darkest of times. Faith was a light to many; that, despite the darkness of life and the tragedies of existence, there was something watching over you, something to comfort you, and another life that existed after passing on. In this newly faithless world, there is no comfort if what you believed was comforting you is gone. In fact, the very deed of killing God, Nietzsche seems to say, is such a mammoth undertaking that a group of hairless apes on a tiny planet would not be worthy of doing such a thing, especially when most of them are not sufficiently independently-minded and stable to fathom exactly what they have done.

In order to slay God, Nietzsche insinuates that humankind would have to rise to godhood in order to make it seem like slaughtering their deities was a good idea. And, in the minds of many, this is exactly what we have done. We have placed ourselves at the center of our existence and elevated humanity to a position that perhaps it doesn’t deserve. It presumes that humans are far greater than they really are, that we are more than just creatures lost in space. It puts political ideology before religion as well. While politics and religion have often intertwined over the millennia, religion has always seemed, in the end, to nourish the souls of our species more than mere politics. Perhaps the worst and most shocking revelations are that there is no reason why we are placed on Earth, that life and history is essentially random, and that all of our deeds are for naught. It is immensely horrifying to us that we argue, fight, and go to war and yet there may be no reason for such things in the end. Without a deity, without myth and legend, we realize that we are not important, and that, no matter how much we try to deify our species, we are still small and still striving for something to elevate ourselves above the mundane-in short, to regain our lost gods.

“Big Sky”, a song by the Kinks from their 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, is perhaps the ultimate “Death of God” song. “One day, we’ll be free, we won’t care, just you see…” croons frontman and lyricist Ray Davies after listing how “Big Sky” (re: God) does not particularly care about those beneath Him on Earth. Despite this strong desire for the eventual extinction of God and the freedom it should entail, Davies sings about the comfort and tranquility religion can provide in a world bereft of it: “And when I see you/And the world’s too much for me/I think of the Big Sky/and nothing matters much to me”. While religion can been seen as a mind-killer-making nothing matter to someone-it also gives help and love to those most in need of them. Like it or not, humanity’s identity throughout the ages has been dominated by religion and belief. Moving forward, we will need to square our own simian egos against the vastness of the universe and the strangeness of eternity.

In the absence of a higher power, humans often turn to political movements to nourish their souls. However, these ideologies fail to become transcendent, and are instead base and materialistic. Some put all their faith in politics, seeing a movement as undying, always finding new human conduits. However, deep down, humans know that these ideologies are ultimately earthbound. They lack the rituals, the comfort, the inner, mystical dimension of religion. They are merely something which we can latch onto in an increasingly chaotic world.

One final thing we should realize is that, no matter how great and mighty we become on Earth, everything down here is transient. Fame is fleeting, nations and empires crumble into dust with regularity, nothing is eternal-not even the gods. Rudyard Kipling was aware of this when he penned his poem “Recessional” for Queen Victoria’s 1897 Diamond Jubilee. This was at the height of the British Empire’s power, and the celebration would have recalled for a happy, slightly pompous poem. Instead, Kipling wrote a work which warned of the smallness of Earthly greatness in the light of eternity. “Lo, all our pomp of yesterday/Is one with Nineveh and Tyre”, he wrote, naming two once mighty ancient empires that have since gone extinct. In the final verse, Kipling uses the phrase “All valiant dust which builds on dust”. This wonderful, mystical phrase warns that, in the end, all human civilization is doomed. We simply build upon the remains of older cultures. Despite our advances in society and technology, we are not so high and mighty after all. It can be taken away at any time. We will never escape the lingering remnants of the old gods, always there to tell us that nothing lasts forever. Night will fall, and a new day will dawn upon the remnants of us all.

(Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm.) The Gay Science. N.a. n.a. Print.

(Davies, Ray Douglas.) The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. The Kinks. Reprise Records, 1968. Vinyl recording.

Kipling, Rudyard. “Recessional.” 1897. Print.

Introduction: Theater uncovers your many “selves.”  Playing different characters makes a stronger person and grows their compassion for other “selves.”  I tell of my time in theater and how it has grown me and my “selves.”  I got the idea for this project from the video we watched in class.  Then when I “free wrote” about my life in theater, I just kept writing and got this piece.  Then of course I edited to get this final product.  This is a different structured essay then many of my other papers. I felt like it was necessary to talk about the meaning of selves more throughout the essay. Instead of doing the story in the beginning of the essay I did it in the middle.  I decided I should just try something new and see how it goes.

Essay:

I used to have a little table in my living room. I would sit and keep myself busy for hours making paper dolls, watches, and whatever invention popped into my four year old mind. Any time I heard someone yell outside on the street or the sound of bike tires against the pavement, I would rush to the window and peek through the curtain with excitement to see if it was the boys. I would beg my mom to let me out the door, in dire need of seeing my friends of the block. There was Ivan, who was lanky and funny, and was the oldest of the group. We liked to play Lego Star Wars on Xbox together, even though I was never any good. There was Sal, his full name Salvador, which I could never get quite right, and he would always tease me for it. There was Owen, who had moved there just for a year or two and who we didn’t see all that much, but was a part of our playful group on occasion. Then there was Nick. My little heart used to flutter every time I laid eyes on him. He wore the South Philly boy tank tops, had one diamond earring, and was the definition of perfect to a younger version of myself. They were like the band of brothers I never had. I was the baby of the group they all looked after. We would run around the street all day long, finding chalk and bubbles, riding our scooters and bikes, like a bunch of best friends.

I felt a sense of belonging on that little street wedged into the culture of South Philadelphia. I had found my people: kids who came from where I came from, but with totally different backgrounds. Nick’s mother had died when he was young, and his father seemed to be addicted to some drugs, from what my family could make of his characteristics. Nick had a good heart with good intentions, but my mom would always say she knew he could be trouble. As for me, I was just a little middle class girl going to private school, but just loving being a part of something. To he honest, we didn’t know too much about one another. They had all only been into my house for my birthday party one year, but other than that everything stayed on the street. I didn’t even know their last names, but somehow it didn’t matter. We were so contrasting in what our lives consisted of, but that neighborhood brought us together regardless.

My family had decided to pick up and relocate further down Washington Avenue, only 15 or so blocks more South. I missed turning the corner and playing on the swings of my childhood at Palumbo park, or walking to Anthony’s for an iced coffee on the weekends. I didn’t want to disconnect from where I grew up, where I felt so deeply rooted and surrounded by the comforts of familiarity. I am one to linger on every piece of my past, each memory permanently etched into the background of my brain travelling with me and piling up in stacks. I am terrified of letting even one memory slip away.

Once I moved, I missed my old friends. The ones who were always there for me. I only saw Nick one time after, many years later. He had grown to be slender, like a twig. He still wore his white tank tops, and was every bit as charming as I had remembered. As he walked by I suddenly began to feel sorry for him. His being had a looming sadness to it, he seemed the same as he did before and I worried he would never change. Would he always be stuck in the little house on the corner, taking care of himself and trying to make it on his own? He was a good kid, at least he was in my eyes. He always protected me and cared for me, and that was all I could ever ask of him. He showed me what it was like to have someone you could always count on and look up to As he turned to the street and left my field of vision, and I knew we would never cross paths again. It hit me in that moment that I didn't know him anymore. If I had gotten up and ran over to him, like I could when I was younger, I didn't think he would even know who I was. Nick was the living, breathing evidence of how I no longer fit in. I locked my eyes onto him for as long as I could, soaking in every detail which I knew would soon fade away.

Even though we no longer share Montrose street, that will always be where we grew up. Everyone has a starting place, a home town. Each neighborhood has their own traits, things that make it home. We all carry the ghosts of our childhood along with us, trailing us no matter how far away we wander. This is true of my little sliver of South Philly, and can be seen replicating across the entirety of Philadelphia. A Northern Liberties native commented, “I want everyone to know that we used to play there and that the ghosts of our past remain there playing indefinitely while new tenants live their everyday lives. Things change, but the memories will always remain.” This thought came from Ava Olsen, a girl who grew up in Northern Liberties which is her own neighborhood she called home. There was an empty lot in which all of her and her neighborhood friends used to play, but got converted into new houses. She delves into the thinking that memories are a part of us, woven into our skin, embedded into our eyes and stained to our thoughts. The names of the corner stores will continue to change, the houses you used to know will be filled with new strangers, but nothing can strip away what you take with you from your childhood.

This is a natural evolution of a neighborhood and happens continuously and everywhere. No corner can escape it, and this is a weight we all carry on our shoulders. Having to let go of the smell of spaghetti at my favorite Italian restaurant down the block, or the memory of walking into the spice shop and the old woman giving me free sprinkles to bake my favorite cupcakes. Slowly, day by day, these memories will fade, becoming less vibrant as the seconds tick past. There are too many memories and moments to carry, our brains overflowing with attempts to cram in all we have endured. None of us can grip all of them; they always manage to slip through the cracks. Where we are from still defines us however, because those memories have still molded us in miniscule ways that build up to who we are now. We are all forced to grow and learn from our past, but not cling to it so heavily that we cannot evolve in the future. Our neighborhoods give us a basis for all that we are exposed to. No matter how far we stray or when we leave our origin, our neighborhoods will always be scattered with pieces of us, and we will never forget where we came from.

Sources:

Olsen, Ava. Street Note: Northern Liberties. Re-Place-ing organization.

Introduction:

My goal for the paper was to be patient in my writing, and to learn something about either my writing skill or the topic I wrote about, or both.  I think I did a good job not rushing too much, using techniques like reading out loud and listening to the advice from the video we watched in class about how writing is all about revision.  I could have spread the writing out better rather than working for longer periods of time for certain days that way I could pick up more easily, however I wanted to write when I was in the best mood or had an idea.  I learned I can be a patient writer, but not to the point of starting from scratch.  I’d rather change and delete and change and delete, until the paper is how I like it.  I think that can be seen if my paper is compared to my rough draft.

Advanced Essay #3:  What Makes Us, Us

What is the ultimate factor in figuring out our own identities?  Objects can be useful in explaining identity, by personifying them and showing how identity is determined through change.  In an example of a scenario from the video, “Who Am I?” by Amy Adkins, the idea of persistence of identity is brought up.  The video says that the “I” is always changing and is made up of many things, so it is extremely difficult to explain identity.  This essay will explore the most important pieces to all of our identities, and consider the question, “What types of changes cause a change in identity”?  

In the video, a ship made of many planks of wood is constantly being repaired with new planks.  The process is very gradual, but eventually there are more new than old planks, and after even longer the boat is made of all new planks.  Physically the boat is completely different than originally.  However, its identity remains the same.  After a 100% physical change, there was not a point in time where the ship was not itself anymore.  The meat of what makes up our identities is our experiences, memories, and actions.

The past does not go away, and links people to previous versions of themselves, making our experiences an important element of Identity. More experiences are added to our lives along the way, however the old ones are always there, a constant piece of us throughout changes and additions to our bodies and minds.  Going back to the ship analogy, the reason it can identify as the same ship as it was before any repairs were made is because of its experience. Physically it is 100% different when all the planks are replaced, similarly to how a person is physically much different after a long time.  

Suppose there are two people who look alike, even identical twins.  They both identity as separate individuals, and have their own identity.  Physical characteristics have some measure in defining us, but they are not totally unique or long lasting, and actually mean less to us.

20th Century Moral philosopher Bernard Williams proposed an experiment.  The premise is that two people would swap brains, and then have to decide if they would want the body they had originally came into the situation with to be rewarded and the body with their mental content now to be tortured, or vice versa.  Practically everyone asked this question chooses the body where their mental content now is to be rewarded and their old body to be tortured.  This shows that physicality does not define our identities as strongly as our experiences and memories, because we see more value of ourselves in our mind than body.

Hank Green in a Crash Course Philosophy video opines his thoughts on identity, reasoning that, “Personal Identity persists over time because you remain in the same body from birth until death.” The body changes, but the important thing to draw from this quote is that since we are in one body all this time, we can be identified by our past and actions we made.  We all have our own unique actions that remain the same, and speak a lot about us.  Our actions show where we stand, and express our desires.

Identity is based on experiences, memories, and actions, because they are all tightly linked to us regardless of anything.  We are all recognizable by these three things, all enveloped by our experiences.  Our experiences defines us because they are everything that has happened to us in our entire lives, through all changes.  In a change of identity, our experiences still defines us because they are never wrong in telling us about ourselves.  How could they be? They are our life story.  

Adkins, Amy. “Who Am I?.” Youtube. TED-Ed, 13 January 2017    <https://youtu.be/UHwVyplU3Pg>.                   

“Finding Dory” is a sequel to “Finding Nemo” a movie where a clownfish named Marlon travels across the ocean to find his son Nemo who has been taken by scuba divers.  Along the way he runs into a fish named Dory who suffers from short term memory lost and travels the sea with Marlon on search for his son.  “Finding Dory” has the viewer jumping between emotions just as “Finding Nemo” did.  In the second installment of the the franchise we see our favorite forgetful blue bodied yellow tailed fish on the hunt for her home and family.  She is joined on her journey by Marlon a clownfish that we were introduced to in “Finding Nemo” and his son Nemo.  In their travels across the ocean to seek out Dory’s long lost family the puzzle pieces that happen to be Dory’s memory start to come together.  They come across old friends and make new friends, and go through a life threatening situation.  With her unsuspected smart choices and good wit Dory gets a lot further in her quest than anyone could’ve expected.  I recommend everyone to see this heart warming movie that puts you on a rollercoaster of emotion and if you have not seen the first installment of the franchise “Finding Nemo”, that is a must see as well.

This movie passes the requirements for both the Mako Mori test and the Bechdel test.  For the bechdel test there are two female characters that have a conversation about something other than a man.  This movie also passes the mako mori test because the main character is a female and the movie tells her story, therefore she has her own narrative and it does not support a male’s story.  Dory is an unexpectedly strong character who discovers her problem and figures out a way to fix it.

Finding Dory passes my gender bias test by during somewhere in the franchise the female character supports the male’s story and the male character supports the female’s story.  In Finding Nemo, Dory supports Marlon’s story by tagging along with him and helping him find his son, but in Finding Dory Marlon and his son Nemo help Dory on her journey so therefore they support her story .

Characters:

Lando como Alejandro

Nasya Ie como Adaline

Amira como Candace Former member: Olu como Zanny
#WalkingCorpseShy

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (more commonly known as Star Wars: Rogue One) is a space opera and war story starring Felicity Jones. Taking place between the events of Episode III and Episode IV, former imperial scientist Galen Erso is taken away from his by Orson Krennic to help design and build a superweapon called the Death Star for the Empire. Years later, his daughter, Jyn Erso, is sought out by the Rebel Alliance to find her father to retrieve the plans for the Death Star so the Rebels can have an edge in the fight against the Empire. The movie acts as a bridge to both the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy while also tying up the loose ends that appeared in Episode IV as well. It also fleshes out many different elements of the story that were not touched on before.

Jyn Erso plays a very strong role in the film as it’s leading role. It fleshes out her character arc from the beginning where she was separated from her father to helping the Rebels in the present. Because of this, it passes the Mako Mori test with flying colors. She has her own character arc that not only does not support anyone else’s arc but, has other story arcs supporting hers. One example being the arc of Galen Erso’s involvement in the Death Star’s construction being a story element that supports Jyn’s story arc.

It passes the Bechdel Test by a slim margin as there are at least three conversations that female characters have with each other in the whole film. One of which being Mon Mothma where she briefs Jyn on her mission to find her father. All of the other ones are with extras and side character that are not too relevant. Even so, the movie still passes the test in a satisfying manner.

My test wanted to focus on something that this movie does not necessarily excel at: represent of women of color. My test is called the diversity pass test because I feel like casting director will throw a person of color into the film but, will not put in the work to flesh their character out or just make them a side character. Their only objective seems to be to fill some very shallow quota they have in their mind. My test requires at least non-white woman who has her own fleshed out character arc that does not support a man’s story and if there is more than one non-white woman in the film, then they cannot be similar in terms of character and personality. They must be wholly original characters that are not a product of stereotypes.

Personajes (characters)

Casey - Christina

Gabriela - Dasia

Carrie - Michaela

On November 14, 2014 the movie “Beyond the Lights was released in theatres in the US. The Pg-13 drama film was advertised everywhere on billboards and the trailers were almost on everything. The film stars main characters actress Gugu Mbatha- Raw as Noni, and actor Nate Parker as Kaz/ Officer Nicol. Both have very different careers, but the influences of their parents comes between and the love affair that develops between the two. Noni is a heartthrob singer who everyone loves, and her mother is the manager of the her. Her mother also played by Minnie Driver, only wants her daughter to match what society’s choices of her talent. Noni wear minimal amounts of clothing throughout the movie, and her mother encourages it and makes her think it is okay to be sexual. With the amount of fame that she has, Noni feeds into the light of fame given to her. On the other hand we have a police officer named Kaz Nicol who has a father who wants him to walk in the same shoes as he did, and Kaz has a few disagreements with it after meeting Noni.

The film does a great job in terms of meeting the mako mori test, because Noni the superstar has her own storyline of her life as growing up with a talent of singing and a single mother as a manager. If anything, the police officer was supporting Noni’s story as the movie goes on. It includes multiple women throughout the movie who illustrate that they serve an importance without the idea of backing up or being beside a man. On the other hand the movie does not meet up to the expectations of the Bechdel test, because Noni and her mother discussed the issues with boys intervening with her career as a superstar. The rationale behind the Bechdel Test and the Mako Mori test is to focus on the typical stereotypical roles women are given throughout tons of films that are not that popular, because men play bigger roles than the women.

An anti- gender bias film test that I would like to see pop up in some films, is more movies about single dad. A lot of movies emphasize the women always being left with the child/children and exploring their journey with that amount of responsibility on their lives. The men are typically categorized as leaving the mom with her kids, when their should be more focus on the dad’s who are forced to play both parent roles when the mother leaves or passes away. For instance, the movie Jump In emphasized what is was like for the dad being forced to play both parent roles for the two children he was raising. Not every situation should fit the stereotype of the dad leaving the mom to raise the kids they both had.

The Mako Mori test is a test that analyzes films based off of gender-bias. It was created to show that movies can sometimes have the same archetype and   In order for a film to pass the Mako Mori test, there needs to be at least one female character, who has her own narrative arc that doesn’t support a male’s story. The Mako Mori test is quite important because sometimes the Bechdel Test can be an insufficient way to measure female representation in films. We need the Mako Mori test to add a twist to films, because in most popular films, if there even is a woman in it, have the woman’s backstory dependent to the male. It’s also important to have tests like these so that movies aren’t repetitive. Many directors use these tests because they want their movies to actually be more representative to women.

Things begin to shake up in the quaint little town of Woodsborough as a killer is on the loose. But this killer is quite different than your ordinary horror movie slasher, because this killer knows his scary movies and is set out on stalking and taunting his victims with trivia questions.  In the horror-suspense film “Scream” (1996), you’ll begin to find out that no one is safe. In the beginning of the film, we meet Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore), a girl who receives a somewhat flirtatious phone call from someone unknown. At first, everything seems perfectly normal as the caller and Casey are talking about films. The situation soon turns gory as the caller grows more sadistic and begins to threaten Casey, and her boyfriend Steve.

After news arises of what happened to Casey, the town grows on edge and the police start an investigation. Here is when we meet the main protagonist, Sidney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell), a reserved highschool girl who is still coping with the recent loss of her mother. It is then revealed that the killer has a personal vendetta against Sidney when she receives a phone call at home while waiting for a friend. Sidney is then attacked within her own house. This is when she realizes that the killer has been trying to torment her by attempting to kill the people that she cares for.  

As the police investigation goes on, people begin to suspect that it’s Neil Prescott (Sidney’s Father) doing all the killings,since he hasn’t been seen since, and all recent calls have been tracked to his phone. But Sidney defends her father, and says that he’s gone away on a business trip, even though the police still don’t think that that is the case.

As more murders occur, school gets suspended. Stu, a fun loving party animal, throws a get together and invites most of the students from school. Sidney, fearing that the killer might strike again, and at the party specifically, shows up to put a stop to it, but to no avail. The killer ends up attacking a lot of people, inevitably leaving Sidney alone in the house to fend for herself. Can our tragic heroine survive? But the main question to this mind-bending mystery is, who is the killer?

Although the movie can have it’s funny moments, it’s quite intellectual nonetheless. If you've ever watched a horror movie and grew frustrated with the main protagonist’s antics, then this film is for you. “Scream” delivers a clever horror film by ripping on/critiquing past horror cliches. The characters themselves even have a conversation about movie cliches and address slasher movie stereotypes. “Horror movies are always about some big-breasted blond who runs upstairs so the slasher can corner her…” says one character in the film. “Scream” gives a unique twist to the horror genre, as it is almost as if this movie is self-aware that it’s a horror movie. The film also coves aspect of trust. As you go on watching the film, you begin to learn that those who may seem honest, might not have the purest intentions. With a killer on the loose only targeting those who are close to you, can you really believe your family and so-called friends?

“Scream” meets the criteria for the Mako Mori test because the protagonist is a girl named Sidney Prescott and she has her own backstory. Although there are many males throughout the film, Sidney’s backstory doesn’t draw any correlation to theirs. Towards the end of the film, it is proven that Sidney is quite strong and independent as she dukes it out with the killer all on her own, thus saving the lives of her remaining family and friends.

An anti-gender bias film test that I came up with was the Pregnant Betty Test. Within the Emmy Award winning show “Mad Men”, the main protagonist’s wife Betty, gets pregnant, but in my opinion, it wasn’t a fair portrayal of women during pregnancy. She seemed very calm and reserved in her pregnancy, and she had no significant changes to her body, besides the fact that she had a larger belly, I feel like a lot of times, Hollywood doesn’t really have accurate portrayals of pregnant woman, and it’s just overly glamorized actresses wearing pregnancy suits. This test is called The Pregnant Betty test to give film/television directors a more accurate way to portray expecting mothers, and not just make her out to be a pregnant Betty Draper. The criteria for this test is 1) have the mother to be show weight gain or any bodily change 2) show the mother having morning sickness 3) have the mother to be show mood swings (besides crying) and an optional one is 4) have a scene where the mother to be isn’t wearing makeup or dressed up extravagantly or 5) the woman having an form of difficulty in her pregnancy or miscarriage.

The Bechdel Test is a test used to indicate the presence of women in films and to point out gender-inequality. The Bechdel Test consists of three important rules:

1. There needs to be at least 2 women in it

2. The women have to be talking to each other

3. The topic being talked about can’t be about a man.

I think that the Bechdel Test is put in place because it’s trying to bring attention to the fact that many women aren’t given the bigger part, and when they are featured, it’s mainly them talking about their feelings towards a man. As a female, I think it’s unfair to be watching a movie and the only woman is talking about a guy she likes, because this makes me think of the gender-stereotypes that women only gossip, and women are always falling in love. What’s so wrong with a woman playing the hero and the man being the one to fall in love with her?

The Mako Mori test is a test used to depict when women play the leading role, or at least have a very important role, with their own backstory. The Mako Mori consists of three rules:

1. There needs to be at least 1 female character

2. The female character needs to get their own narrative arc/backstory

3. The backstory can’t be about a man’s story